Jordan's Journey Continues

[Note from What the Heck:  Jordan Comadena, a catcher in the Astros minor league organization, is going to guest blog for us throughout the season about life in the minor leagues.  If you missed it, his last entry is here.]

It’s been too long since my last post.  Today was my first official day of minor league pitchers and catcher’s spring training.  Let me fill you in on how I got here. 

The last time I wrote, I was finalizing all my equipment and making my plans to get to Florida.  My wonderful agent, John Shinn, got me all taken care of in terms of equipment.  I am always very grateful and appreciative of the work he does for me.  With my bags all packed up, I got on the road to Florida on February 21^st.   With the drive being close to 19 hours I break it up into two days of driving.  On day one I go about 11 hours to Stockbridge, Georgia.  It is a nice exit right off the interstate where I get a hotel and get some sleep.  An early start on the 22^nd got me to my destination in Florida around one in the afternoon.  This year I drove to Port Saint Lucie first and stayed with teammate Robert Donovan for a few days.  He threw a bullpen to me and we were able to workout together each day.

Last Saturday I came to Kissimmee and got settled in to the complex.  I got my locker set up and got my first workout in.  Since I was in town early I had to find my own place to stay, so my former teammates Brandon Barnes and Kyle Greenwalt were kind enough to let me stay with them and their families for the week.  Brandon is currently in big league camp.

My week of early workouts went great.  I was able to get in and take a lot of batting practice, do a lot of catching drills and get my work done in the weight room.  I was also able to catch a number of different pitchers that had reported early to camp.  It’s very beneficial for the pitchers as well as for me to get them going off the mound.

Today was the first day of minor league spring training.  All the pitchers and catchers are in camp.  I am all settled in to my hotel room with my roommate Kirk Clark.  The first day included physicals, testing, meetings and a long workout.  Half of the 80 pitchers in camp threw pens, I took BP, hit in the cages, and ran my conditioning test.  Needless to say, I will sleep very well tonight.  The next three days will be much of the same.  I will catch a lot of bullpens and take a lot of batting practice.  It is important to listen to your body, get your rest and stay hydrated.  The first week of camp always takes a toll on your body regardless of how much you workout in the offseason.  It’s great to be back in the swing of things and I now look forward to the rest of the position players getting here.  

Jordan Comadena

March 3rd